Travel
Cold weather puts chill on travel during lunar festival
By Meng Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-08 11:11
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Snow and drop in temperatures forecast to prevail in city this week
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The sudden dump of snow on the capital is likely to put more pressure on the already overloaded transportation system, officials from the Beijing bureau of meteorology are warning.
The bureau said yesterday the snow started to fall on Saturday evening and was followed by a drop in temperature that will see the mercury fall by between five and eight degrees this week.
"More snow will arrive on either Monday or Tuesday," Guo Hu, the bureau's director, told METRO yesterday. "Though it will be a light snow shower, it will impact neighboring cities and provinces, including Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong.
"The weather will be a burden for Spring Festival travelers because the snow will also arrive in neighboring areas and the conditions and visibility will be poor with the coming of fog," Guo added.
The Beijing inter-provincial passenger traffic website posted a notice yesterday, suggesting all passengers should think about their transportation choices because long-distance buses will be affected by the deluge.
Chen Weiqi, a bus dispatcher at Sihui long-distance travel station, one of the 10 busiest in Beijing, said the station was not hit hard by Saturday's snow but he said they might have to consider closing for a while if things get worse.
Around 5,500 people are expected to travel through Sihui Station each day to northeastern provinces throughout Spring Festival.
"For the sake of our passengers' safety, we may stop our operation if the snow gets heavier," Chen said. "We did it in January with the super-heavy snow because our business mainly depends on road conditions."
As many as 64 fights were delayed and 21 were cancelled at Beijing's Capital International Airport (BCIA) yesterday morning because of the snow, according to a news release.
Passengers were understandably anxious.
"I've already booked a chauffeur in Shenzhen and arranged to have lunch with my friends, but now I have to reschedule all my plans because of the snow," said would-be passenger She Fang.
BCIA brought in 60 additional staff to keep things ticking over at the airport.
Travel for Spring Festival began on Jan 30 and will end on March 10.
